"Our deepest fear in not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous. Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small doesn’t serve the world." - Nelson Mandela
That last line struck me: "Your playing small doesn't serve the world." It's one thing to be humble, but another to negate the gift and potential that lies within you.
Reminds me of this scene from Big Fish, Gigantificationism:
I often ask folks I work with to describe their core customer as if they were casting for a movie – picking a movie star or fictional character.
The question serves two purposes from my vantage point:
We can target your strategy and story towards that type of person.
When I meet someone (either offline or online) that fits the description, I can help make a connection.
For instance, though I will work with several sizes of companies and personalities, my "sweet spot" character type would be a "Katharine Hepburn"
Independent, yet interdependent
Strong-willed, know what they want
Has a captivating (but not overwhelming) presence
Flexible – they can make a change like a PT boat, not a battleship)
It's no surprise that most of my work has been mostly with coaches, consultants, teachers, and preachers – they are independent, focused, driven, nimble.
And it's not limited to business stuff. Apparently, it works in the personal realm as well. My Angela has all of these qualities and more – and I knew it from the start.
Birds of a feather, hmm? So, dear reader – who would your cast in the role of your core customer? By knowing, you'll be attracting.
Mike Sansone
La Vista, NE
Mike@MikeSansone.com 515-802-2273
Summary of Qualifications
Excellent verbal and written communication skills; Extremely self-motivated; Highly organized and detailed; High level of initiative and leadership/supervisory ability; Trend Spotter; Community Cultivator
Experience
Social Media Coach, ConverStations
April 2005 – Present
Helped business owners and leaders develop strategies and tactics in using Social Media to increase their relationships and their profitability and findability.
Developed curriculum for school districts in teaching their staffs how to use Social Media in the classroom and as a Professional Development toolset.
Coached individual business owners and leaders in one-on-one and workshop settings on the use of Social Media as a daily content marketing tool.
Authored ConverStations blog; recognized as top thinker in Content Marketing/Social Media by various publishing outlets including AdAge.
Dispute Resolution Specialist, Wells Fargo Credit Card Services
April 2004 – April 2005
Received inbound telephone and mail queries regarding disputed credit card purchases. Ask probing questions to determine customer needs.
Researched data to find appropriate resolutions, working within internal and Federal guidelines and laws.
Composed letters of inquiry to business and customers with regards to disputed charges.
Self-Storage Property Manager, Storage USA May 2001 – June 2003
Opened and operated new self-storage facility for a national company.
Maintained rental units with a monthly gross income potential of $114,000, with 83,245 sq ft of rental space. Retail sales of moving supplies grew to over $1,500 per month. Oversaw growth to 45% occupancy in less than two years.
As resident manager, maintained all phases of daily operations including financial reporting, marketing strategy, bank deposits, lien and foreclosure procedures, lease management and all forms of cleaning and maintenance.
Worked with financial reporting such as budget vs. actual and other variance reports, remote AP/AR, summary of rental experience, and petty cash.
Director: Interactive Programming, HeyMax Interactive
April 2000 – Dec. 2000
Hired as Community Management & Development specialist. Created strategies for Start-up Company leading up to launch of services specializing in complete community solutions.
Drafted scope and specification documents of original and unique community software (chat room, message boards, instant messenger, live help tool, auditorium, newsletter subscription process and member matching tool.
Director: Community & Interactive Programs, Ignite Sports Media
Dec. 1999 – May 2000
Launched and managed programming of online community programming for official professional sports team sites: Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Seahawks, Washington Capitals.
Wrote newsletters and community updates, emceed celebrity chat events, managed listserv database.
Community Programming Manager, America Online, Inc & Real Fans Sports Network June 1997 – Dec. 1999
Managed following AOL channel/area communities simultaneously:AOL People Connection; AOL Lifestyles; AOL Hometown; AOL Workplace; AOL International; AOL Interests; AOL Research & Learn. Assisted in creating processes implemented across Community Operations with regard to general community building and maintenance.
Managed team of 25 remote employees, supervising the efforts of over 750 volunteer discussion leaders. Pioneered innovative ways to transition remote employees from content managers to discussion motivators.
Worked with content teams for each of the above areas to promote content packages to and within the community for the purpose of leveraging member discussions and the possible re-purposing of such as content.
Built membership to over 185,000 in Real Fans Sports Network forum (AOL Team Clubs). Oversaw 500% growth rate in private community in 16-month period.
Other Experience
Self-storage & Relocation Consultant, Self-employed (Central CA) August 2003 – February 2004
Assistant Pastor, Harford Furnace Baptist Church (Bel Air, MD) September 2001 – June 2003
Resident Apartment Manager, Various properties (Northern CA) April 1995 – June 1997
Taxi Driver/Dispatcher, Various Cab Companies (CA, IL, PA, TN) Sep. 1990 – Nov. 1995
General Manager , Salinas Spurs Baseball Club (Salinas, CA) Jan. 1989 – Sep. 1990
The World and the World Wide Web have changed in the past few years. A lot!
These days, it’s so easy and inexpensive to get on the web. At the very least with a single page and a domain name. There is no longer an excuse not to be “on the web.”
Merchant’s Circle offers a great solution (one every small business should take advantage of in addition to their own site). And there is Google Local that can help support a web “presence.” But what of a small company’s own web presence?
Well, I’m traveling around small and rural towns with my li’l red wagon (aka, my laptop) building one-hour web pages and testing out theories. Almost like One-Hour Web-inizing.
You can get your own single-page site for less than $200. Just fill out this easy form to get started.
Yesterday, I read about a new personal portal-type of tool called About.Me (hat tip to TechCrunch). I haven’t seen the admin area of about.me yet (I did reserve my name and you should too), but I know that flavors is very easy to use. Super simple to build a quick page that can act as several things at once:
a single-page, brochure site for “who you are”
a brief one- or two- paragraph bio
contact info
a photo
a portal to other places you have on the Internet, be it social or otherwise
Social Networks
Online Resume
Blogs or Wikis
sites where you contribute content
sites that have you ranked or awarded
I’d try to take a minimalist approach to these types of pages, but you can find various uses for them. I know there are even a few small, rural businesses using this type of page for their web presence.
I believe the trend towards single-page, personal portals is going to grow – especially with “free agency” and “gainfully unemployed” becoming popular job descriptions.
My suggestion is for you go reserve your name at flavors and about (and maybe both) today.
Want your own Single-Page site? Fill out the form and let’s get started for less than $200
Long before this site existed . . . long before the Internet, there were conversation stations. Be it the busy marketplace bazaar or the quietude of a cave drawing, since chalk on a rock and smoke in a stack, we've had conversation stations.
And while our current age seems to favor the semantic web and social networks as its tools of choice, there will be changes in tools, but similarities in other elements.
For the past several years, this site has been dedicated to teaching others how to use the toolset of social and self publishing to further their relationships and their message. There have also been occasions to teach and train using other forms of conversation stations, such as pulpits and classrooms, coffee tables and boardrooms.
But conversation is, in my mind, tied more to behavior than to delivering messages ad nauseum. Conversation is as much (more?) listening as talking – as much behavior in silence and solitude as it is noise making in a crowd.
That's where this site and its efforts are heading. Not so much away from "social media" – but closer to the complete package of conversation as an art.
So stick around . . . or not:-) We've much to learn together. Online and offline.
To the Critics, I have read your claims I have heard of your disdain I have been appalled by the brash boldness by which you wield your swords and loudly proclaim your one-sided judgments and close-minded conclusions through your megaphones
And although that day may come when I speak these things to your faces for now I write it down at 9:29 PM on March 15th — my 45th day of walking by the side of my Michael It has only taken me 45 days to see what you have so grotesquely missed by hundreds of miles It is you who is to be pitied not I for I know a man who you, with your plank-filled eyes and prideful hearts, may never know and for that you are to be pitied for I know Michael Gordon Sansone for who he truly is a man who is my gift from Father and my most valued prize in this earthly life for. . .
He is a valiant warrior He is a faithful follower of Christ He is a humble servant of the King He is a kind brother He is a fiercely devoted foxhole friend He is an extravagant lover He is an obedient and faithful disciple wherever Father leads He is a man who lives with the highest forms of integrity in all areas of his life He is a man of humility He is a man of faith-filled prayer He is a lifter-up of the bruised, burdened, bleeding, and beaten down He is a light to those who walk in darkness He is a filler of empty cups He is a beacon in the dark alleys to which most venture not He is a man of generosity, freely giving whether from his plenty or his little He is a raiser-up of the unjustly accused, cruelly misused, and maliciously mistreated He is a valiant warrior He is a servant leader He is a brave and brilliant visionary He is a man of quiet wisdom He is a coach who skillfully empowers those he trains He is a fellow journeyman who will walk beside you long before others will notice you and long after others have left you He is my Michael
So say what you’d like, but know that your words are wrong and grotesquely misplaced I pity you because the fear or the shame in your heart that made you miss knowing a man who lives his life as a gift to others His name is Michael Gordon Sansone And I will proudly stand beside him until my dying day
When I arrived back in Iowa in mid-January, little did I know . . . I was about to meet the love of my life. I wasn’t looking. I wasn’t even thinking. Not in the status or situation I was in.
What began as a friendly exchange of emails and short face-to-face meetings while serving others, blossomed into a fully engaging romance for the ages.
With consistent, transparent, frequent styles of conversation to each other – we fell in love. When walking together in agreement, working together towards the same goals, things just click.
Our marriage mission statement came together without even knowing it was being crafted:
Sansone Mission
February 23, 2011 — Day 25 — Philippians 1:25
Because He first loved us Uncommonly
We love with Uncommon Love
We serve an Uncommon God in an Uncommon Way
We celebrate with Uncommon extravagance
We embrace others with Uncommon love, service, and devotion
Father, bring us the common, we’ll turn it up and “un” towards You
in an extravagantly loving, abandoned faith and obedience way
By being the same person offline and online, the same person in public and in private … and recognizing the journey through a valley finds a peak on the other side … an uncommon life is lived.
Meet my bride-to-be, Angela Thye. She is my love, my strength, my laughter, a source of energy I’ve never experienced.
I wonder if we can U-Stream the wedding? (coming May 26, 2012 August 6, 2011)
Update: We can and did USTREAM it. Here are our vows:
Believing that Blogs are Conversation Stations, I coach small business and solopreneurs to use Blogs and Social Media to amplify their reach, their relationships, and their revenues.
