Being August – b5media Business Channel Theme Day

Once a month, the b5media business channel holds a “theme day”, in which our business bloggers contribute posts around a particular theme. Besides being an enormous amount of fun for us and a good exercise in thinking outside the box, it’s also a fun way for you to learn about some of our other business blogs and maybe spark a little thinking outside the box of your own.

I actually came up with this month’s theme, and so I also get the privilege of hosting it.

One day when I was thinking about the names of the months of the year, I noticed that only three months — March, May and August — are not only names but also words in the English language. Of those, two are quite common, while the other — August — is not exactly part of the typical household conversation (oh, by the way, that’s a statue of Augustus, for whom the month was named, in the photo).

Dictionary.com defines “august” as follows:

1. inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic: an august performance of a religious drama.
2. venerable; eminent: an august personage.

So that’s our theme for this month — “Being August”. Our bloggers have each produced their own take on this as fits their blog. Enjoy!

On Property Crossroads, Maricel Ferrer-Custodio tells the inspiring story of Barbara Corcoran, who started her real estate agency with just $1,000 and has grown it into the largest in New York City. Maricel says, “She is one of the most admirable people in the real estate industry not only because of her achievements but also because of her great attitude towards life.”

Over at Leadership Turn, Jonathan Farrington, himself an adopted Parisien, extols the virtues of Paris in August: “If there were a social equivalent of a fiscal year in the life of Paris, it would end on July 30th…Come the end of July or early August, most small businesses, including butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers, and a good number of restaurants simply close down for 3 to 4 weeks.” Sounds heavenly for them!

Mary Emma Allen of Home Biz Notes lists six ways to develop an august home business — “one that stands out in the crowd, …draws attention and attracts repeat customers.” My favorite is the final one: “Have fun with your business and what you’re doing.”

Kelly over at TaxGirl talks about being under the influence… and wonders what (and who) inspires you.

On Behind the Buzz, Rachel Clarke wonders if conversational marketing can be august: “You have to ask yourself how can a buzz campaign, a social media campaign ever be august, ever be a source of dignity. Especially if it is some weird, funny video or game that gets thrown into the mix.” But there are a couple that have “inspired reverence or admiration” for her.

At Contract Worker, Rico Mossesgeld talks about how embracing what is most august—greatness—leads to freelancing success.

Over at Interview Chatter, Darlene McDaniel asks, “Are you august?” Darlene wants to hear from her readers about “August people… people we admire, people who are amazing, people who inspire awe, people who are outstanding at what they do.”

Des Walsh of Business and Blogging asks the very pointed question: “Would you rather your company was revered or profitable?” He goes on to suggest that venerable old companies could help ensure their survival by picking up on blogging and other social media tools.

Tris Hussey at Pimp Your Work, being (in his own words) “always the rebel”, offers some apropos advice for August about heat and hardware. Having a laptop myself that likes to overheat, I think this is well-timed advice, particularly for laptop owners.

Small Business Boomers is host to Jim Norton’s look at the leadership style of Caesar Augustus: “…someone who would use any means that he thought he could get away with to accomplish his ends. He appeared to be a man who was only afraid of failure.”

And on Linked Intelligence, I show how to be august on LinkedIn with 7 ways to show your character. “If you are a person of character, you need to show that, and LinkedIn is a great opportunity to do that. Here are 7 ways that you can actually demonstrate your character on LinkedIn, rather than just talk about it.”

Thanks to all the b5media bloggers who participated. And if you feel inspired by this theme and write something on your own blog, please feel free to post it in the comments.

Image of “Augustus of Prima Porta” by Xerones via flickr. Some rights reserved.