Note the awesome animated graphic at 0:50. High-speed bus lanes lol!
Obama Replaces Costly High-Speed Rail Plan With High-Speed Bus Plan

Obama Replaces Costly High-Speed Rail Plan With High-Speed Bus Plan

image courtesy of http://www.ourkitchensink.com/

Attention unemployed workers of America: I am searching for your tales of struggle, absurdity, and salvation. If you or someone you know has been spectacularly kicked in the nuts by an employer, and you’re willing to go on a recorded Skype video call, I want to hear from you!

I have started a new interview series called “The Pain Of It All,” where I will talk with displaced Americans about their job loss.  Fired? Laid off? Furloughed? Downsized? I want to hear from folks about the circumstances surrounding their job loss, how it made them feel immediately after it happened, how they coped with their feelings, and what they ended up doing about it. I will especially concentrate on the italicized!

I believe that folks looking for a job often tune up their résumé and think that’s the most important step towards securing employment. Unfortunately, you can have the most wonderful credentials, but if you’re not in the right mindset, you won’t come across well in an interview. And people often overlook that when a person loses their job, it can throw them into the wrong mindset! (understatement of the year). A traumatic event like a firing or layoff can really mess with your head, and how people deal with this fascinates me. You have to “get over it” before you can go after your next job.

My hope is that, if people hear about the struggles of others, and perhaps the positive (or negative) way they dealt with the blow, they’ll gain the inspiration they need to go after their dream.

Examples of what the interviews are like:

Kesha Facen – the first interview I did

Chris Cloud’s interview

If you think you’re a good fit for the video series and don’t mind sharing the painful details with me, email me at rizzotees [ at ] gmail [ dawt ] com and provide me with the following info:

1.  Tell me about your job and your job loss – from what employer, how long were you there, what was your job while there.

2. Tell me about “D-day” – how they fired you, and how it made you feel that day and in the days following.

3. Tell me about how you coped with your feelings as the weeks, months, or even years went on. How did you get in the right mindset to go on that first job interview?

4. Tell me if your story has a happy ending or not, and provide me details.

Write as much or as little as you like – I’m just trying to get a measure of your story. No need to write a novel – we’ll get into the fun details during the video interview. Frankly, the more interesting and shocking and spectacular the kick in the nuts was, the better. And finally, if you know someone that’s been laid off or fired, please pass this blog post on to them. My goal is to do 100 recorded interviews, and then turn the stories into a book.  Two down, 98 to go!

Let’s hear from you!

My number 1 business tip to aspiring entrepreneurs: get people to say things like this about you.

“I really think Rizzo Tees is an example of a company who has it right – leverage social media, provide a simple online storefront with great products, and provide stellar customer service. When you combine those three things, you truly have something special.”

This means:

1. Be nice. Nice to everyone! Be nice to your customers. Be nice to your service providers. Be nice to the IRS when they audit you. Be nice!

2. Ship your product as fast as you’d like to receive something as a buyer.

3. Be hyper-attentive to mistakes you’ve made. Don’t be all paranoid. If a customer says “I never received my product,” don’t say to yourself “Man, I really think they received the product I shipped them. I have a delivery confirmation. I think they’re just trying to get another one for free.” No they’re not. And if they are, that’s no more than 1% of your customers. If your glass is half empty, go back to being an employee somewhere – just quit business altogether!

4. Finally, when someone does praise you like this, freak out a little bit! It’s extremely exciting when someone takes time out of their day to write a blog post about you. Praise them back, comment on their blog, and appear to be as thankful as you probably are. If you’re not touched by such positive comments, you may not have what it takes to conduct business in this new socially connected economy.

If my blog had been up and running in October 2009, I would have written this post back then! Thanks you Trey Connell for your continuing support of Rizzo Tees.

Tonight I’ll be at the STLMixtapes.com tweetup at The Gramophone in St. Louis, MO. My friends J-Will (@theobell) and Los (@biglos) invited me to speak about social media with local DJs, artists, and producers as part of the kickoff of their new project, STLMixTapes. I’m really excited to make the case that using social media to take the general public into the world of a rapper, into the process of making an album and touring, will help them meet with even more success.

And I will argue that this is even more important for the up-and-coming rapper/DJ/producer. You might be able to get away with old-school marketing if you’re Nelly (because he’s already highly visible), but if you’re not as well known and you’re looking to bust out, you need to be letting the general public get close to you through social media.

And after I’m done talking (read: after I’m thrown off the stage), there will be live performances by Potzee, Gena, Tef Poe, Rockwell Knuckles, & M.C.

You can RSVP here, or just show up. See you there tonight!

Have a listen to this short little podcast on what kind of employee companies should be searching for. Hint: it has nothing to do with Harvard or mind-blowing résumés.

Be sure to check out Michael Tomko‘s new blog DoYouReallyWantToHurt.Me. It’s about food and stuff.

Mike understands the power of bacon.

OH: "I don't think that people realize that bacon will be with us forever. It's not just some passing fad." via @rizzotees

November 11, 2010 2:43 pm via Tweetie for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@michaeltomko

Michael Tomko