In our “here today, gone tomorrow,” “what have you done for me lately?” society,

how has Oprah Winfrey managed to be SO successful for SO long?  What has given Oprah her unique staying power?  The Washington Post wanted to know.  So, they polled a panel of successful men and women, of varying backgrounds and areas of expertise,

Since I first read the panelists’ responses a few days ago, I have been thinking a lot about how Oprah’s recipe for success can be applied to business.  Personally, I relate to “Oprah the Entrepreneur.”  Three thoughts have continued to resonate with me, from this panel’s responses and my own ruminations.

These are:

Oprah’s Connection

Oprah identifies with her audience. She exudes a genuineness that allows her audience to relate to her. As an entrepreneur, it is important to connect with each client. Delivering best-in-class service, in each client’s genuine best interest, will always set you apart from your competition.  Know your client.

Doing Good Oprah was able to recognize, early on, who she was; what made her tick.  Knowing jer own strengths (and shortcomings), Oprah has been able to find situations that value who she is.  As a small business owner, it is crucial to understand who you are, recognize your strengths, and channel those strengths to pursue and develop business opportunities that are comfortable for you.  Do not chase projects that require skills that you do not have, are not interesting to you, or that may compromise your values.  Do not seek relationships with clients who you cannot help.  In other words, seek comfort.  This does not mean that you should not have a reach that exceeds your grasp.  But, it does mean that you should not compromise your values or promise anything that you cannot deliver.  Know yourself.

Knowing What is Next Oprah has announced that she will end her television show after over twenty years on the air.  She is leaving at the top.  You can bet that she did not make this decision without a lot of thought.  This may be the most challenging part.  No doubt, as entrepreneurs, we are consumed with our business 24×7.  We are constantly looking for ways to serve our clients and help them to achieve their goals.  Sometimes we can lose sight of our own goals for a project.   We should always have personal goals for a project and, periodically, we should re-assess these goals and make necessary adjustments.  Sometimes, knowing when to call it quits, learn from the experience, and move on may be the best option.  Be honest to yourself and to your client.  Know the Relationship.

A BusinessWeek article Why the US is Loosing Foreign Graduates, indicated that increasing number of foreign students graduated from U.S. universities are going back to their home countries to pursue careers. Some says it is due to tightened restrictions of the H-1B visa (temporary work permit); Others argue that is caused by the current economy with lesser jobs to offer. I think it is a combination of both. The H-1 visa restriction has certainly hindered a pool of talented international students to pursue careers in the US. On the other hand, with the globalization of the economy, US is no longer the gold mine of opportunities it once was.

Another article The Argument Left Unsaid About Foreign Students written in 2008 still holds true today. I hope the new Obama administration takes this into consideration and rethink ways retain talents in our own country. America is established based on diversity an innovation.

“As we trend towards a knowledge-based economy, it is imperative that we remain competitive in the global marketplace.

If American universities and American politicians want to help higher education and the economy, it’s time to move beyond just lobbying to get foreign students into the country for a few years – but to talk about why it makes sense to welcome many for their careers.”
Gautham Pandiyan

I just bought a Vado, a pocket video camcorder by Creative , released May 2008. Reason for wanting a video gizmo? To be able to capture videos spontaneously. After one week of using Vado, I am really liking it. It is small, inexpensive ($99), light (less than 3 oz), and because of its very ‘plastic’ texture, I feel comfortable letting my 6 year old daughter handling it.

I did a comparison video from a Vado and Flip:

Vado vs. Flip

Shot with Vado

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTWp-aYL6Kw]

Shot with Flip

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8IR9fWjvxg]

When comparing 1:1, I can see the difference in video and sound quality. Flip has higher quality. Will I return my Vado for a Flip? No. For my intention of using a pocket camcorder, the ease of use (I like the easy upload to youtube), light weight and rechargeable bettery outweighs the slight difference in quality. One thing of note. The Flip camcorder was accidentally dropped once, and from that, the keys are more difficult to respond (to play and stop when recording). While I am not going to drop my Vado to test out the result, I seem to think Vado will have a better resistance because of it’s plastic frame as compared to the Flip which has a metal frame.

Have you seen the tan guy with long thick blond dreadlocks, red shorts walking on Connecticut Avenue?

Another reason I want a pocket camcorder is to interview the Connecticut Walker. If you live in the DC, Rockville area, there is this blond guy, tan, muscular, early 30s with thick dreadlocks down pass his shoulders, and always wearing red shorts without a shirt (in the winter, he would wear a pair of red sweat pants with a t-shirt). My description of him may make him sound hotter than he is. I would imagine he has lots of wrinkles on his face from walking in the sun day-in and day-out. I would see him walking very fast paced up and down Connecticut Avenue at different times, rain or shine. I don’t think he has a car. Sometimes I spotted him by Chevy Chase DC, and other times by Olney, Maryland, which is a good 17 miles away, a long way to walk. I have always wanted to ask him who he is and why he is always walking. So hopefully one day soon I’ll report back with a video of the Connecticut Walker.

Want more info on Vado?

Short video of exactly what to expect from Vado in the box to using Vado

Click here for comparison of the latest pocket camcorders

Interesting trend around the international blog and user-generated video participation. I got be chart below from Grundswell, it is based on from a Forrester research data.

As seen from chart below, Japan and Korea are leading the blog readership, with U.S. as a close third. Clearly this is the direction we are heading with increasing blog posts. The U.S. is leading the user generated video space, which is mainly due to U-Tube providing mostly English content. No doubt web based videos is and will continue to be a hot trend.

Seems like the last 2 days I’ve been getting info to blog info about life other than social media. But I hate to neglect Kadidid. That’s when I saw the latest stats from socialmediatrader.com and I thought I’d share the love.

AT&T Plans to offer iphone with $200 rebate, bringing the price down to $199. The new 3G AT&T iphones are schedule to be available the end of June. In order to get the iphone with AT&T, you do have to subscribe to a 2 year contract. 

I am in the market for either an iPhone or Blackberry, I think I may wait until June for the iPhone.

“..When the 3G iPhone is introduced this summer, AT&T, the exclusive U.S. iPhone sales partner with Apple, will cut the price by as much as $200, according to a person familiar with the strategy.

AT&T is preparing to subsidize $200 of the cost of a new iPhone, bringing the price down to $199 for customers who sign two-year contracts, the source says. Apple is expected to have two versions of the new iPhone, an 8-gigabyte-memory and a 16-gigabyte-memory model with price tags widely expected to be $399 and $499.” Read more from Fortune.com