Month: August 2016

Thoughts on this political season 

Carl Setzer1 Comment

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p style=”font-family:’Helvetica Neue’, Arial, sans, sans-serif;”>So much ugliness 

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p style=”font-family:’Helvetica Neue’, Arial, sans, sans-serif;”>Hatred’s vanquishing of grace 

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p style=”font-family:’Helvetica Neue’, Arial, sans, sans-serif;”>Expands misery 

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Solved Mailchimp Issue 

Carl Setzer

While trying to send out an email this morning I got stuck with this error message. 

“Your list has an email type option, so the text part is required”

Mailchimp has settings for each list and the issue is buried in there. 

  1. Go to “Lists” 
  2. Select the list in question 
  3. Then “settings”
  4. Then “List Name and Defaults”
  5. Uncheck “let users pick plain text or html”

That fixed the problem for me and let me send the email. 

My Social Media Management Philosophy

Carl Setzer

I managed social media for several companies. My desire had always been organic growth. Most of my efforts are via thoughtful content and local engagement. My strategies do include the use of such tools as Google and Facebook ads, thatsbtgenlimit of paid reach. I never advise the buying of followers. 

I’ve known several folks that have done so. Now, ostensibly it looks great. Having thousands of followers looks like it grants you significant authority, makes you look like an influencer. More sophisticated eyes will see through it. When most of your followers are bots, for instance, the validity of your authority becomes suspect. 

With that, paid followers don’t provide meaningful engagement. We need to remember the why. Why did you start social media? Probably to gain customers. The likelihood any of those paid followers is going to turn into a client is pretty near zero. 

Don’t get wrapped up in the numbers. It’s better to have a few subscribers or followers who are fully engaged with you, than tens of thousands who don’t. Influencing is far more about engagement than about follower counts. 

Some Thoughts On Gratitude

Carl Setzer
I spent the past few hours processing the acquisition of a new bank owned property for my real estate company. Nothing terribly unusual about that except for the way it was assigned.
The previous agent was fired by the asset management company. Assets get reassigned all the time. But agents don’t generally get all their stuff reassigned. This situation, though, the agent argued with their client; a seasoned asset manager. I don’t know the gory details beyond that. But the arguing part struck me.
I try to live a live based on gratitude. I’m hardly perfect, but I feel solid about the way I live. That’s the opposite, though, of arguing with your client. Perhaps failing to see through our own ego, perhaps caught up in their knowledge so much they can’t see other ways to do “the work”. I just don’t know.
But engaging with grace, disagreeing respectfully, these are key to my view of “professionalism”. And my view of being a decent human being. Though not perfect, I do try. Which, perhaps, is more than many. Sadly, I guess.

Lessons of a Martial Artist

Carl Setzer

  • ​There’s more to personal growth than intellectual, book knowledge 
  • Training is mental, emotional and physical: encompassing mind, body and spirit 
  • Sometimes getting better is learning something new 
  • Sometimes it’s refining motion – building precision 
  • Sometimes it’s pushing yourself further, expanding strength, flexibility or endurance
  • Sometimes it’s pushing your heart; holding focus through frustration, fear, disappointment – persevering and holding firm, trusting in those who’ve mastered before you  
  • There is always something new to learn, more precision to control, more strength to grow, or endurance to cultivate
  • Perfection is an aspiration, a direction, not a destination 
  • Always remember: perseverance and continuing to train is the path of mastery.