Recommended Reading: Get Off Your "But" by Sean Stephenson

I recently got done reading a really, REALLY good book called Get Off Your "But": How to End Self-Sabotage and Stand Up for Yourself by Sean Stephenson.  I highly recommend it.  It is one of the top 10 books I have ever read and I'm so glad that I did - and know you will be too.

I've really been wanting to writing a full review and book report on this book - as well as do a complete profile on Sean, who is a very inspirational man.

My challenge is that I am becoming very focused on the things I need to do to reach my goals - and at this point just cannot afford the time to write anything that will do the book or Mr. Stephenson complete justice.  I will leave it up to you to read the book - and do your research about Mr. Sean Stephenson and his amazing story.  Just make sure to do it!

Focused, Calm, Confident, Consistent and Smiling: Check Out the New Joe Connector

As you might know by now, I have been going through A LOT of personal changes over the past couple of months.  Certainly not the biggest change, but perhaps the most evident is the fact that I ended my final project as The Hair Farmer last week and had my last hair harvest for the benefit of Locks of Love and children with medical problems.  Not only do I look a whole lot different, I'm starting to feel and probably even act differently (although it still hasn't made me want to get back to wearing suits all the time).

I started getting real motivated to find a job again and have applied for about 100 of them in the past couple of weeks.  Humbling enough, I even applied to work at Target and WalMart - both places that employ A LOT of people.  It's pretty sad and depressing that neither of them have even responded to my applications.  Not sure if it's because I'm overqualified or have too many connections or too many recommendations on my profile at LinkedIn or what - but it is a real downer that I still have not been able to get ANYONE to even interview me - let alone hire me and give me a chance to work ...

How to Send Out Press Releases: Free Press Release Submission Websites

So you've finally decided to start sending out press releases, aka media releases, etc.  You've written your first media release and are now trying to figure out where to send it.  You could spend a lot of money and send it out through various paid channels - but even then success is not guaranteed.  You could start to build your own media list, which I fully advise and recommend, but it takes a lot of time and if you are a small business owner, yours is at a premium.  Another option is to blast them out to the masses via Free Press Release Submission websites.

Here is a partial list of some of the submission websites that I have sent media releases to with varying degrees of success:

1. http://www.npr.org/ - you are able to send a message or press release to any of the many shows on National Public Radio.

2. http://www.betanews.com - link to their contact form where you can submit news (or lodge a complaint)

3. http://www.directionsmag.com - you will first need to register and create an account for Directions Magazine, then you can login and post releases to: http://www.directionsmag.com/pressreleases/add/  According to their website, Your press release must be on topic to the Geospatial Technology Industry - but not sure if this is true or not .. it doesn't seem like they all are.

4. http://news.thomasnet.com/ This site has strict editorial criteria - they say they will only accept releases from OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).

5. http://www.prlog.org/ - you will need to register for a PR Log account before submitting a free press release and then you will have to verify your account by phone.  The process to sign up and submit can be a hassle, but can also be very beneficial.

Didn't get a change to finish this post, but if you have other suggestions or additions, I would love to hear them.