Get in flow with these five manifestos

How to be Creative

Hugh MacLeod, advertising executive and popular blogger who draws on the back of business cards with a flair for the creative, gives his 26 tried-and-true tips for being truly creative. Each point illustrated by a cartoon drawn by the author himself.

If you've ever felt the draw to do something creative but just haven't been able to pull it together, you'll love this manifesto.

My favorite one: ignore everybody. Best quote: The sovereignty you have over your work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will.

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The Bootstrapper's Bible

Available to you once again. There's never been a better time to start a business with no money. This 103-page manifesto will show you how.

It includes stories, steps, and tons of material.

My favorite part: I'm in it for the long haul. Building a business that will last separates me from the opportunist, and is an investment in my brand and my future. Surviving is succeeding, and each day that goes by makes it easier still to reach my goals.

I pledge to know more about my field than anyone else. I will read and learn and teach. My greatest asset is the value I can add to my clients through my efforts.

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25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself

According to Rajesh Setty, "being part of the commodity crowd erodes your value." You need to rise above the crowd by following Setty's 25 ways.

My favorites: do you daily work with passion; build strong relationships; dream big; and walk away from free.

In this last one, Setty says: if the offer is very compelling and you ought to take it, then please decide how you will contribute back to the source in exchange for what you received.

There are things you receive for free, like this blog and the manifestos I collected here, for example, which aren't really free -- there is a cost to bringing this to you in research, time, attention, and care. Is the content helpful? So many say it is. Few find a way to demonstrate it.

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Rework: a Better, Easier Way to Succeed in Business

In the real world, you canʼt have over a dozen employees spread out across eight different cities over two continents.

In the real world, you canʼt attract millions of customers without any salespeople or advertising.

In the real world, you canʼt reveal your formula for success to the rest of the world.

But weʼve done all those things and prospered. The real world isn't a place, itʼs an excuse. Itʼs a justification for not trying. It has nothing to do with you.

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson are the founders of 37signals. I also reviewed their book last summer.

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Go Do: How Hard Can it Be?

It’s important to realize that the only true barrier in life is you.

Sure, there can be obstacles that you face every day and people who are impediments to achieving your goals, but ultimately, you will be the reason that you achieve or fail.

I quite often tell folks that they have to “Go Do.” Frequently, on social media, you will see that two-word charge from me because I hope it will click with folks in need of motivation.

There are so many people out there with the “woe is me” attitude; what they must realize is that they are causing the woe and they are the only conduit for change.

Lou Imbriano is the President and CEO of TrinityOne, a marketing agency with a specialty in sports that takes a non-traditional approach to extending the brand of a company and organization.

Men meet together for many reasons in the course of business. They need to instruct or persuade each other. They must agree on a course of action. They find thinking in public more productive or less painful than thinking in private. But there are at least as many reasons for meetings to transact no business. Meetings are held because men seek companion ship or, at a minimum, wish to escape the tedium of solitary duties. They yearn for the prestige which accrues to the man who presides over meetings, and this leads them to convoke assemblages over which they can preside. Finally, there is the meeting which is called not because there is business to be done, but because it is necessary to create the impression that business is being done. Such meetings are more than a substitute for action. They are widely regarded as action.

Great video from the SAP team - even pokes fun at big ERP.

"Social CRM is a philosophy and a business strategy, supported by a technology platform, business rules, processes and social characteristics, designed to engage the customer in a collaborative conversation in order to provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent business environment. It is the company's programmatic response to the customer's control of the conversation."

It is the programmatic aspect that is important IMO.

Even though the conversation took place in a public setting, the conversation is private by default, public through effort.

Great speech from danah boyd on privacy (from SXSW 2010).

Heidi Allen has created a short introduction video on how she uses feedly. Short. Informative. Very valuable if you are starting to use feedly.

One of my favourite feed readers gets a neat how-to guide.

SAP FACTS - Chuck Norris style

 Things you probably didn't know about SAP

Very funny - but only in the SAP world.

The phrase "managing talent" has vital meaning to both SAP project managers and SAP professionals, though they come at it from two decidedly different directions. The relative supply and demand of each SAP skill affects rates and skills pay. It's only natural for SAP professionals to want to maximize that pay; it's equally understandable that managers are looking for the most "SAP talent management bang" for their buck. As in any marketplace, the two parties meet somewhere in a constantly fluctuating middle.

Great post by Jon Reed looking ahead for 2010.