Friday Quick Hits: Minimalism, Criticism, and Other Ism’s

Hola everyone! Mixing it up and going with a slightly different format moving forward – sharing not only some of the best blog reads the week, but also some other cool happenings and projects going on out there in the community. Enjoy, and feel free to share some great stuff you ran into this week in the comments below!

Great Reads you may (or may not) have missed

• Cut Companies a Break (Dave Fleet gives some valuable insight on why we MAY be demanding a little too much from companies and brands online these days).

• What Love Taught You About Work (What do career and relationships have in common? Maybe more than you think, Derek explains).

• The Surprising Truth About Using Minimalism to Leave Your Day Job (Leaving the nine to five may not be such a daunting task).

• Twitter is Not a Case Study (Good thoughts from Lauren on the necessity of providing tangible results – positive or negative – of your online engagement).

• Dear Ms. Career Girl, I Heart Me (Well written piece on facing criticism with class and accepting the impossibility of pleasing everyone).

• The Ebb & The Flow (Ryan says what a lot of folks won’t – that it’s OK to step away from your blog and focus on other stuff).

• Stop Waiting for Someone Else to Blaze Your Trail (If you’re waiting for other people to pave the way, it’s about time to start focusing on creating your own path).

Cool Shiz (In other words, lighten up and enjoy yourselves with these links)

• The girls over at Chicago-based POP! Social Media, Inc. landed a sweet client this week – only the first step toward what will surely be a lot of wave-making.

• Stumbled across this earlier in the week and looks promising – essentially a network of designers (graphic, web, visual, etc) that ties into your LinkedIn Profile. I have yet to to “dive in” but am looking forward to checking it out.

• Sweet little project being put together by my buddy Daniel Prager aptly titled the ‘Playlist Project‘ featuring a playlist and a “story” from a new person every day – has the potential to really take off – climb on board!

• I moderated a ‘Wordpress’ discussion at the most recent Social Media Breakfast here in Chicago – Mike over at Pursuit of Change has a great recap of what I covered. Check it out (and if you’d like a copy of my “must have” plugins, let me know and I’ll email one your way.

• Next Saturday, Ms. Career Girl’s Nicole Crimaldi and I will be hosting out first Social Media Workshop in Elgin, IL. There are still about 10 tickets left – if you’re in the Chicago area, you should come join us! Should be a heck of a time (not to mention it’s free).  REGISTER HERE

What good things came your way this week?