From the publisher: "Men and women lead differently. Most businesspeople, from front line employees to CEOs, sense this at some level, but can't quite articulate the differences without falling into the trap of creating male and female stereotypes. In their new book, Leadership and the Sexes gender experts Michael Gurian and Barbara Annis show what the latest scientific studies reveal about male/female brain differences, and explain how these differences impact the ways that men and women negotiate, communicate, lead, and run meetings."

The excerpt we have posted is a good, lengthy, meaty one. It raises a lot of important points about biological differences between men and women, but it also prompts more questions and will have you curious to see how the authors address not only gender differences in leadership, but also societal issues surrounding socialization and gender stereotyping.

Here's a brief passage from the excerpt:

The human brain is hard-wired (genetically coded with) its gender. As gender is not one thing or type, but very diverse, you will find throughout this book that your brain's male/female coding fits somewhere on a wide gender/brain spectrum.

And here's a direct link to the chapter: 800ceoread.com/excerpts/archives/008408.html

And since I'm interviewing Jeff today, I thought it only right to ask you (the crowd) to submit questions you might have about Crowdsourcing.

If you have any questions, submit your questions by 1:30pm CST and I'll make a point to ask Jeff.

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* On bookshelves everywhere on in late August.

Boy, was I glad I did! In the communication field, even though it can get a bit liberal as to what is taught, can feature very valuable information. The class I took brought Plato to my impressionable, freshman mind and I will never forget what I read. We only touched on the Symposium, the Republic and Pheadrus, and his lessons about life and skills in rhetoric are useful to us in 2008 just as they were to Plato those many years ago.

Hyland's book talks about those works as well as Plato's Hippias Major and is definitely right in step for today's business environment where people and companies move too fast, communicate too fast and tend to ignore details and the beauty around them. I'm not saying everyone that reads Plato will have this epiphany, but it may open minds to thinking of things in a different way. Plato may even help you when dealing in communication between co-workers, colleagues, etc.

If you do pick up a copy, enjoy it - and let me know what you think!

The first being Dan Ariely's, author of Predictably Irrational, keynote on "Unlocking Customer Behavior...How to Understand and Profit from Predictably Irrational Customers."

The second is from David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, who spoke about "B2B Viral Marketing: How to Trigger Word-of-Mouse that Spreads Your Ideas for Free." For more on that subject, check out David's ChangeThis manifesto.

The message:

Think about a measurement system. Sure, some people will claim that the metric system is intrinsically better than the Imperial because it's easier to calculate in a decimal system.

But Britain didn't switch from Imperial to metric just because the latter is base ten. It did so because of what economists call "network effects." The value of any given coordinating standard -- like a measurement system or a language -- is worth more when more other people use it. And Britain's neighbors and largest trading partners generally do. There are "economies of scale" to being part of the larger network.

Globalization has introduced a new coordination game among literally billions of people. With apologies to Thomas Friedman, the world isn't flat. But it is networked -- and we're all heading to Grand Central Station after one fashion or another.

The link to keep reading.

It seems others are catching on to the Roam trend. Tom Peters deemed him worthy of the Cool Friend title where he was interviewed by another guy we like who uses words like "grok" in regular conversations, Erik Hansen. BusinessWeek mentioned Dan and his drawings last month. And, if you open up to page 45 of your latest copy of Fast Company, you'll find another piece about Dan and his napkin sketches.

A note about the author: Ryan Allis is CEO of iContact Corp., a venture-backed marketing and online communications firm that has grown from nothing to over $10 million in annual sales and 80 employees. He is also the Chairman of the web marketing firm Virante, Inc. For more info, visit www.zeromillion.com.

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5 Steps to Optimizing Your Website

The majority of Web site owners have fewer than 10 incoming links to their sites. The search engines view incoming links as verification that your site has quality content. The more related links your site has from other sites (with the underlined clickable text that includes your targeted keywords), the higher your ranking in the search engines will be. Here is a step-by-step overview of this entire SEO process:

1. Select your keywords. Use tools such as the Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool, Google's Search Term Suggestion Tool, and Word tracker to determine which related keywords or key phrases it would be best to optimize your site for. Once you have a list of potential keywords, go to Google and type in those keywords. Then see how many incoming links the top few sites have. You can determine this number by typing in "link:http://www.competitordomain.com." Take a look at whether the first few sites have the targeted keyword in the domain name or in the title, or whether they appear often on their page. Use this information to estimate what it would take to get your site above the current sites in the rankings.
2. Ensure that your site has those keywords on it. Make sure that the keywords you are targeting are on your home page at least five times. Having a 5 percent to 15 percent keyword density for your targeted search term on your home page is optimal. Also ensure that your title tag and image alt tags contain your targeted keyword. Add your targeted term to an H1 header tag for added prominence.
3. Build good-quality content on your site. I call this phase the "content campaign." Either write articles yourself for the site or go through the search engines to find related content. If you find an article on another site that you'd like to publish on your site, send an e-mail to the author, site owner, and/or publisher to request permission to syndicate the article on your site. Present it as a win/win quid pro quo in which you receive good-quality content and the author/publisher receives free exposure and a link to his or her Web site in the byline of the article. I'd suggest having at least 25 quality articles on your site before going forward. Optimize your home page for the two or three most competitive target terms. Optimize your in-site pages for the more unique and less competitive terms. You can also outsource the creation of this content to copywriters, using a service such as elance.com, for about $30 per 400-word article.
4. Build links to your Web site. Without incoming links to your site, it will never have a chance at being at the top of the search engines for competitive terms. Use the research you did earlier on the number of links the sites at the top of the listings have or your targeted keywords to set a goal for how many related incoming links you want to build to your own site. To obtain links, go through the search engines and find related Web sites, then contact the owners of those sites and offer to exchange links. Add their links to your Web site and e-mail them to let them know that you've linked to their sites and would appreciate a reciprocal link. I'd suggest contacting them first via e-mail and then via phone if necessary. In your initial e-mail to site owners, include the URL and description of your site, as well as the location of where their links are and which sites of theirs you are referring to. I'd suggest creating a resources section on your site and placing your link partners in the appropriate category within. You can also build links naturally through press releases or by having great content, a useful tool, a viral video, or an interesting blog. If you have more money than time, you can also purchase relevant links from quality Web sites through a service called LinkExperts or purchase reviews with links from sites such as PayPerPost, ReviewMe, and Blogvertise. Ensure that whatever links you build to your Web site have your target key phrase in the anchor text, the words that are clickable and underlined. Finally, text links are much more valuable than image links, as the search engines can follow text links and associate the link text with your Web site, but they cannot do this for image links.
5. Continue building your site's reputation. Once you have built a few related incoming links, the search engines will find and index your site. If your site is new, it can take up to nine months for Google to allow it to show up for competitive search terms. During this time, continue building good-quality related content and work to build as many incoming links from related Web sites as you can.

I'm going to admit, I'm still skeptical of Second Life. So, perhaps I'll pick up Sarah's new book, Second Life for Dummies, and see if I can get a new perspective on it.

Regardless, if she comes to your area, be sure to attend. The web is a constantly changing animal, and having experts like Sarah to refer to helps keep us in-the-know.

The major feature in the November issue is newspapers. Consider these facts:

• Over 11,000 newspapers produced daily worldwide.
• 1.6 billion people read a newspaper every day, up 5% over the last five years.
• Newspapers employ two million people globally.

Those numbers stand in contrast to the doom and gloom you constantly read in the US. Reported in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, numbers from the Audit Bureau of Circulation show circulation of U.S. weekday newspapers was down 2.6% from last year.

Monocle also highlights a number of recent redesigns from around the world, the most significant Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

That got me thinking. I would love to see dailies from around the world. You can see some of them online, but there is no substitute for seeing the object.

So, here is my proposition. Anyone who send me the daily newspaper they read will get a free book sent book to them as a gift. I need to put some limits on this, so here is the process:

2. If you would to participate, email me at t o d d [a t] 8 0 0 c e o r e a d [dot] c o m. Tell me the newspaper you would send me and where it is published. I am looking for global dailies.
3. I will send you back an address to mail the physical copy of the paper.
4. Once I receive your package, I will return the favor.
5. Offer ends November 30th, 2007

I am only going to accept one entry per newspaper, so it is first come first serve.

And I am really looking for dailies from outside the US, but I may accept some of the within the 50 states.

I really want to encourage our global readership to join in. It is often hard to include folks outside the US in our special offers. In this case, we want to encourage it.

Most of us tend to think of our business and personal lives as two separate lives, and to a large extent, this is true. We all strive for a sense of fulfillment at home and in the workplace, and most of us want some separation and balance between the two worlds. Regardless of how successfully we keep our personal and professional lives separate, some of the skills we use in each are the same. Life's a Pitch addresses these similarities. It is actually two separate books bound together and written by two authors. Both books are about presentation, or how to make a pitch, but they approach the subject from different angles.

Roger Mavity wrote the first book, a more traditional business book. He gets into the nuts and bolts of how to organize yourself and your team, set the message you want to deliver, and how to present that message most effectively. He argues that people respond more to emotion than logic, and that how you pitch yourself is more important than what you're pitching. To put it simply, a pitch is theatre, not information. Stephen Bayley's book, the second part of Life's a Pitch, is far more provocative. He writes about how to present--or "pitch"--yourself in your personal life. He sees life itself as theatre, and writes on how to "design your personality" to be a better actor in it.

They both approach the subject bluntly, some may even say ruthlessly (they dedicate the book to Niccolò Machiavelli, and write that his "ruthless understanding of personal ambition has inspired us both") but they deal with it honestly. They deal openly with topics most of us would prefer to keep at arms length. Bayley references Gandhi and Patton as good examples of presentation in two consecutive sentences, which is bound to make people of all temperaments wince. Similarly, Mavity talks about how the Mafia calls itself a "family" while the British royal family refers to itself as "the firm." This book is more interested in broadening our view of presentation than playing to our prejudices of it. Pacifist and warrior are treated on equal footing here. All that matters is the pitch.

Most of all, this book is well-written and intelligent. Everybody who reads it is bound to get something out of it, whether it is how to make a presentation in a boardroom or how to present yourself at lunch. This book is what it preaches: a great pitch.

Six Essentials for Networking

Networking is about creating an extended family. It's about developing connections, caring about people, increasing the size of your "tribe." Most of all, networking is not the awkward social ritual many of us think it is--networking is actually FUN!

Here are my top six networking essentials to rock your career and your life.

1. Practice "Palm Up" Networking. When you network, are you giving, or grasping? Palm up networking embodies the spirit of service, of giving and wanting nothing in return. When you network "palm down" you're grasping for personal gain. Palm up = heart-oriented interaction. Palm down = greedy grasping. Which attitude results in building relationships, providing value, and ultimately bestows benefits on both parties? You guessed it. The universe has a perfect accounting system. Give to others, it'll all come back to you in time.

2. Do Daily Appreciation. Appreciate at least one person daily. Sometimes I do this via e-mail so I can be thorough. And often, to my delight, the recipient will tell me that they are saving the message for when they need a pick-me-up. You can also express appreciation over the phone or in person. Simply tell someone how much you appreciate who they are, what they do, whatever about them moves you. They'll be flattered and you'll feel great.

3. Equalize Yourself with Others. I believe we all have one unit of worth, no more, no less. No one can add to it, no one can take it away. We're all equal. Just because someone is powerful, rich, famous doesn't mean they are better than you. Practice equalizing yourself with others--this will enable you to more comfortably interact with others, and to reach out to people of all walks of life.

4. Rolodex Dip. This is a fun practice when you want to connect with someone but aren't sure who. Flip through your contact database and pick a name. Then think of all the things you like about them. Now call them up to see how they are doing. They'll be surprised and delighted.

5. Pick a "Sensei of the Day." Each day I pick a sensei, a teacher. This is someone who has taught me a lesson or reminded me of something important in life. Your sensei can be a person, a pet, a plant, it doesn't matter. The important thing is to acknowledge that there is much to learn and you are being offered valuable lessons constantly.

6. Do the Drive-By Schmooze. Parties, conventions, groups of all sorts are great opportunities to network, but sometimes you'll be tired, not in the mood, or have too many events in one evening (like during holiday season!). This is when you'll want to use the Drive-By Schmooze. Here’s how:

a. Timebox your networking. Decide that in 30 minutes you'll do a check-in to determine if you need to stay any longer.

b. Set your goal. Determine the number of new connections you want to establish. Remember, your goal is meaningful connections, not simply contacts.

c. Let your intuition guide you. OK, this may sound flaky, but it works! Stand near the door, in a corner, out of the way. Stop your thoughts. Internally ask to be guided to the people you need to connect with. Then start walking. You'll be amazed at who you meet.

d. Connect. You'll always resonate with someone at an event. When you do, ask questions about them, such as: How did you get started in your field? What's your ideal customer? We all love to talk about ourselves, and these questions will not only help you form a connection with this person, but will also tell you how to help them.

e. Offer help and follow through. If you can provide help, jot down ideas on the back of their business card, commit to follow up, and then do it. If you've had a fruitful conversation and want to take it further, offer to meet for lunch or coffee. People say life is 90% about showing up. Nonsense! Life is 90% about following through!

For more tips and helpful info on networking, see the Cool Resources section on www.RulesForRenegades.com.

Christine is author of the book Rules for Renegades: How to Make More Money, Rock Your Career, and Revel in Your Individuality. She's CEO of Mighty Ventures (www.MightyVentures.com), an innovation accelerator which helps businesses to massively increase sales, product offerings, and company value.

"This means that we're exposed to an estimated 3,000 ads a day. That's counting highway billboards, posters in trains, buses, and bathroom stalls, commercials in movie theaters, holograms on buildings and taxis, "talking" grocery shelves, and stickers on food (CBS has stamped eggs with ads for its shows). But that doesn't take into account all the bumper stickers, t-shirt slogans, and ads on people's anatomy that we see (yes, Dunkin' Donuts paid college kids to panel their foreheads with messages about great coffee). And that 3,000-ad tally doesn't count the now almost ubiquitous product placements embedded in films, TV shows, and games.

No wonder some are calling this the Age of Interruption. Commercial avoidance has become a high art. Seven out of 10 people wish they could will the ads away. But it's not the advertising they hate as much as the uninvited disruption."

Here's a direct link to the excerpt: http://800ceoread.com/excerpts/archives/007181.html

And the book: http://800ceoread.com/products/?ISBN=978047005643

Last week I received a copy of If They Give You Lined Paper - Write Sideways by Daniel Quinn, the author of Ishmael and Tales of Adam, among other books.

A good portion of the book is the transcript of a conversation between Quinn and an inquisitive fan. The two tackle all sorts of world issues, from poverty to religion to cultural mythology to questions of good and evil, and Quinn takes on the role of challenger--challenging his fan to tease out her ideas and reasoning.

The narrative reveals Quinn's thought process and inspires readers to take more creative approaches to life. The appendix contains two never-before-published essays, "The New Renaissance" and "Our Religions." If They Give You Lined Paper - Write Sideways will definitely intrigue readers who enjoy stimulating, intellectual conversations about solving problems.

Even though it wasn't what I expected from the title, this book offered an interesting approach to getting a point across. Which is, I guess, what has made Daniel Quinn such a successful author and visionary.

'Think Different' should be the slogan of all marketers who want their marketing communications to deliver a return. There is no point in being identical to the competition and saying the same thing - only perhaps a bit louder and across more platforms. As Jason Frost, Managing Director of Publicis Blueprint, points out: 'Any successful brand has found a way of differentiating, whether it's through accident or design.'

Profitable Marketing Communications: A Guide to Marketing Return on Investment encourages businesses to view marketing not as a cost, but an investment and added value. "The book introduces investment disciplines and strategies to marketing practices and gives insight into how marketers have delivered outstanding marketing return on investment. Finally, it provides a blueprint to maximize the returns from marketing communications" (Kogan Page, publisher).

Here's a direct link to the excerpt: http://800ceoread.com/excerpts/archives/007160.html