How to Start from Scratch and Become a Thought Leader

Jeff HadenGhostwriter, Speaker, Inc. Magazine Contributing Editor

August 10, 2015 • 1521 Likes • 148 Comments

Want to be seen as a leading thinker? Want to be the Seth Godin or Malcolm Gladwell of your field?

Want to revolutionize entire industries -- and business paradigms -- like Steve Jobs?

It’s not easy. It takes a lot more than sitting at a computer while the children are nestled all snug in their beds and visions of thought leadership dance in your head.

Some of my clients are visionaries and leaders in their fields. I know what they've done to set themselves apart. I've seen firsthand their approach, energy, and most important, persistence.

Here are a few principles that thought leaders embrace:

1. Start with show, not tell.

Everyone has ideas. Ideas are cheap. Talk is even cheaper. We listen to leading thinkers because their ideas are validated by success.

Think about it: Would anyone consider Tony Hsieh to be a visionary thinker in customer service and employee engagement if Zappos had not experienced tremendous growth?

Sure, occasionally a Chris Anderson will popularize a concept like the Long Tail, but he had already built a platform at Wired where he could share his ideas. (A visionary without a platform is a tree that falls in the forest and makes no sound.)

When you prove your vision is valid, gaining recognition for visionary thinking is much easier.

2. Fearlessly go against the crowd.

Most of us follow basic business principles. How we apply those principles may be (slightly) different because each of us is unique... but not really.

To be a visionary you must take a very different approach, and that means many people will disagree with your thinking even after you've proven you're right. See pushback as a sign you may really be on to something.

But also make sure you're prepared to take the heat when others attack -- because they will.

3. Be willing to start small.

Cobbling together a platform and building a following is incredibly hard.

The Wall Street Journal won't take your calls, but trade publications, local papers, radio stations, and moderately influential bloggers may, especially when you have something different to say and a story that proves your point.

In some cases, smaller mainstream media outlets not only don't mind when you reach out, they want you to reach out, because many are starved for content. Be humble and speak and write for just about anyone who will have you. If nothing else, post on LinkedIn. That's the only platform you're guaranteed access to -- and the only platform with hundreds of millions of potential readers.

Remember: if you're only willing to start at the top... you'll never get off the bottom.

4. Persist when no one seems to listen.

Visionary thinkers not only have great ideas, they can effectively communicate those ideas.

The same goes for you. You must be able to write and speak extremely well. Unless you have the resources to hire a ghostwriter to write articles, books, speeches, etc., it's all on you.

That's another reason starting small is important; not only do you get the time you need to refine your message, you also get lots of practice writing and speaking and sharing that message.

And most importantly...

5. Be sure the effort is worth it.

If you're a consultant or an author, being seen as a thought leader can have a direct payoff. Heightened credibility and increased visibility can create broader opportunities, drive higher fees, and boost revenues.

But in many cases the only boost you will receive is to your ego.

Building a platform and an audience for your ideas is really, really hard. You'll invest countless hours writing, speaking, promoting, and networking, possibly for very little return.

Take a hard look at the tangible benefits you expect to receive. If you can't quantify the return, put your time into other activities that will produce a real return.

If it's just about your ego, you'll never succeed, and in fact probably shouldn't, because thought leaders place all the emphasis on their ideas -- not on themselves.

Design Thinking and Innovation: A Real Life Example

PHILMCKINNEY | APRIL 21, 2016

What is design thinking? How does it contribute to innovation? Are design and innovation fundamentally integrated?

In a nutshell, design thinking is problem-solving that uses design principles: human-centered ideation, pattern recognition, marrying meaning to function, and prototyping. There aren’t necessarily an orderly set of steps, but there are three major spaces, according to IDEO, who helped pioneer the modern concept of design thinking: inspiration, ideation, and implementation.

Inspiration finds a problem that inspires innovative change. Ideation creates ideas for solutions and tests them. Implementation is the process by which an idea goes from initial testing to substantial product or process that changes people’s lives.

While some people name four elements and others name ten, they all come back to the same basic process: identify the problem, come up with ideas to solve it, and test those ideas until there’s a clear winner and make that winner into reality. This is the basic foundation of all design: coming up with multiple possible solutions and testing them until you have the best design within budget, time, and other constraints.

Design Thinking in Practice

So how would we apply design thinking to a real-world problem? Here’s a good example. In this TED Talk, Jeff Chapin, an executive at IDEO, discusses how their design principles worked to bring sanitation systems to Cambodia and Vietnam. He discusses how they learned to communicate and help local business entrepreneurs, community leaders, and salespeople manage their own sanitation systems, and what it took to design the systems in the first place.

Chapin took multiple trips to Cambodia to design and execute cost-effective clean toilets and to Vietnam to create affordable hand-washing stations. The designers worked with villagers to create their prototypes and used villagers’ feedback to improve their designs. They designed each of these systems to be reliably sourced, manufactured, and distributed by local business people so that the innovation did not require continued outside influence.

Chapin summarizes his team’s findings on design and innovation with the following points:

• “Build upon cultural norms”: Use analogous existing practices to come up with new solutions.
• “Learn from subtlety of communications”: Pay attention to subtle user reactions that may indicate problems with the product or how it’s being communicated.
• “Listen to lead users”: Which people in the family and in the community make decisions about the product or process you’re trying to improve? Go to them first.
• “Be open to serendipity”: Learn from your mistakes and unexpected developments.
• “Support local expression and adoption”: From source materials to the location of a sink, local expression changed the designers’ thoughts.

How Design Thinking Relates to Innovation

Why is design thinking useful in the innovative process? Design thinking always has the goal of improving what was there before. And the stages of innovation as I see themcorrespond pretty neatly with design thinking:

Focus on a problem

Ideate solutions

Rank the solutions and pick the best one

Execute the best solution in the real world

Design thinking simply uses its own unique language and tends to focus on the user experience more than some other ways of solving problems. Taken together, these two ways of thinking provide a powerful process for creating practical, human-centered change.

• Focus on a specific problem: Specific problems are more easily and practically solvable than general ones. Chapin’s group did not go into Cambodia with the general goal of improving the lives of Cambodian villagers, rather they had the specific goal of creating cheap, effective latrines to improve sanitation and prevent disease. Specific problems clarify focus, enable goal setting, and provide a path for communication between users and designers.

• Ideation draws on experience: In order to come up with ideas, Chapin and his team drew on the experiences of the villagers. The designers came up with an analogous process that the villagers would connect with. The villagers in Cambodia were used to slowly building up their homes one piece at a time from the most basic bare bones. This was an additive process. The team’s first attempt to draw on this experience failed because they used a flow chart to communicate their ideas, and the chart’s linear nature didn’t mesh with the additive process the Cambodian villagers used. They finally were able to communicate effectively using layered slides to show the additive process and get feedback.
• Ranking through prototyping and testing: The team went directly to the people who would use the product, determined from them what would work and what wouldn’t, and where their own assumptions were wrong. For example, there was a man in Vietnam who kept giving them suggestions about their design for a hand-washing station. They sent him home with it and came back a week later to see what additions he made. The most substantial was the fact that he put it in the kitchen: the team discovered that people preferred keeping hand-washing stations in their kitchen because it was the place they were most likely to get other family members sick through contaminated food.
• Execution: Just get the basics out there and allow the innovation process to continue. The most important elements in Chapin’s example were toilets and hand-washing stations, which were pretty basic products. The end users built from simply executable designs—they didn’t need anything more than the basic plumbing necessary to have a working toilet. The rest of the work—building a business around the product, customizing it, and adding features—they do themselves, continuing the innovation process.

As with innovation, the goal of design thinking is always to make something better than what was there before. What is unique to design thinking is the language and specific processes it uses (prototyping, for example) and its focus on the experience of the people actually using the end product.

Contact me for information about this and other great methods of innovation.

Preparing for What’s Next

Jeff Imelt / Chairman and CEO at GE

On May 20th, I delivered the keynote at New York University’s Stern Business School convocation. Here are excerpts from my message to the graduates. 

We’re in a volatile, global economy – the most uncertain I have ever seen. There is distrust of institutions. Protectionism is rising. Globalization is being attacked as never before. For those looking to succeed, the playbook from the past just won’t cut it. It’s time to pivot, be bold, and not fear criticism. 

I built my career at GE in a time when productivity, innovation and globalization were the way to win. When I joined the company in 1982, 80 percent of our revenue came from the U.S. Now, 70 percent of our revenue will be global. We have customers in more than 180 countries. We export over $20 billion worth of goods to the world each year. We have become woven into the global economy.

You would think that companies like GE that give people good jobs, make good products, and contribute to their communities would be valued. That governments would try to nurture growth and address big problems like income inequality and unemployment. That global integration would be seen as a force of good and would continue to grow.

You would be wrong. Today, big companies are distrusted; governments and global institutions are failing to address the world’s challenges; and globalization is being attacked as never before.

This is not just true for the U.S., but everywhere. These sentiments have traction in Europe and Latin America, on both the right and the left. The future of the EU is an open question. Protectionist barriers are rising in Asia and Africa. China is repositioning its economy to be more sustainable and inclusive.

The global economy is growing too slowly, and many people feel left behind. Some workers have been displaced by outsourcing, the middle class has been squeezed, and income inequality has risen to unacceptable levels. As technology and globalization race forward, people understandably fear their impact on jobs and incomes, and distrust the motives of companies and government.

There are many causes, and business bears some blame. Productivity has slowed to a crawl and capital investment is declining. Financing is more difficult to get, particularly for infrastructure projects. Investment is required for productivity, which in turn, supports higher wages.

Part of the fault also lies with technology. Innovation has driven growth but also leads to greater instability. The internet can connect people, but doesn’t necessarily give them jobs. Technology has raised the competitive requirements for companies and people. This exacerbates economic insecurity.

Finally, Government is also responsible. In the U.S., regulation has expanded while infrastructure has lagged. Our trade deals are languishing in Congress, and we remain the only developed country in the world without a functioning Export Bank. Our tax code is 30 years old; our immigration system is broken; and a huge structural deficit clouds the future. In the face of this headwind, we are having a raucous Presidential election where every candidate is a protectionist, and globalization is being blamed for unemployment and wage inequality.

Globalization is still essential to growth. But, the globalization I knew, based on trade and global integration, is changing, which is why it’s time for a bold pivot. And in the face of a protectionist global environment, flexible thinking is required, and companies must navigate the world on their own. We must level the playing field, without government engagement. This requires dramatic transformation. This is how we will lead:

We will localize. In the future, sustainable growth will require a local capability inside a global footprint. At GE, we will always be a strong American manufacturer, but we also have built factories in China, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Hungary and elsewhere around the world. We are managing extended supply chains. We are not pursuing low wages; we are using a manufacturing strategy to open markets. We will produce for the U.S. in the U.S, but our exports may decline. At the same time, we will localize production in big, end-use markets like Saudi Arabia.

Our competitive advantage is digital productivity. When we digitize power plants and hospitals by connecting them to the Industrial Internet, we improve global productivity. In Pakistan, we are using analytics to improve energy efficiency and expanding capacity. In India, we can use the internet to deliver healthcare to remote regions. In China, engine analytics are improving airline productivity. Every industrial company must also be a digital leader. This is the next wave of competitiveness.

We accelerate growth by solving local problems. We can make the world work better when we innovate to solve problems with local capability. Our GE technologists around the world have come up with new ways to produce cleaner energy that’s more accessible and to give remote communities access to healthcare. Solutions from the developing world improve outcomes in developed markets.

Financing is the new oxygen of global growth. Capital is the fuel for globalization of the future. We have positioned GE to capitalize on investment flows from new sources. China’s “One Belt One Road” initiative is building new relationships in Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Most countries are increasing their export financing. We’ve learned how to invest in these countries, access those pools of capital to support export growth. This is critical as we cannot count on the U.S. EXIM Bank. Companies need to globalize on their own and control our destiny.

Winning requires simpler organizations. Change requires new business models that are leaner, faster, more decentralized. Complex and centralized bureaucracies are obsolete. GE is pushing capability to local teams who are empowered to take risks without second guessing.

We tend to think of globalization as a philosophy, but it is much more about what you do on the ground. Success requires hundreds of little things, and decisions made with a local context. A good global leader has an appreciation for how people do their work in a local culture. They try to make a teams’ work meaningful to their country. This allows us to hire the best talent in every country where we compete.

By taking these bold actions – by pivoting – I am confident we can continue to grow. One thing I know about globalization is that there will always be plenty of critics. Early in my career, I worried way too much about what people thought. Over time I realized that progress counts for more than perfection and that anything worthwhile takes persistence and resilience.

My shield consists of competency, hard work and fairness. I run a meritocracy with the highest standards. Discrimination has no place in business – in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world. Similarly, our factory teams know that, while we cannot guarantee markets, we can guarantee effort; we always play to win.

So be flexible, be bold, don’t fear criticism. We are going through a transformational change in globalization, which will require fresh, new thinking. Our goal is to build an economic ecosystem that is the most competitive in the world. To create great jobs through private enterprise and ingenuity. To give back competency and innovation directed at solving the world’s toughest problems. There is nothing elitist, or establishment, about this task. Only by being in the arena can you create work for others.

The discord we see in the U.S. today is primarily due to slow growth and the wealth discrepancy it creates. This problem will not be solved by any bureaucracy. It requires leaders who see the world as it is and are willing to drive change. 

Written by

Jeff ImmeltChairman and CEO at GE

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Singapore - the next cloud technology - intelligent nation

By Zane Bacic 

The Singaporean government has facilitated a technophile reputation through numerous grants that incentivise businesses to adopt best technology at affordable rates. Cloud technology is at the forefront of this evolution and will provide the infrastructure upon which Singapore plans to build an “Intelligent Nation.”

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is spearheading Singapore’s iN2015 strategy, a 10-year master plan to grow the infocomm sector and revolutionise nationwide communication for businesses and the public. The ultimate goal of this strategy is to place Singapore #1 in the world in harnessing computer systems to improve both economic and societal communications. Various incentives and grants are already in place, and SMEs, as well as the education and healthcare sectors, are seeing significant results.

From a national employment perspective, this push is estimated to generate an additional 80,000 IT and telecom jobs nationwide. The plan will also deepen IT executive skills, with 13,000 professionals benefiting from ‘CITREP Expanded’, a scheme that endorses nationally recognised training and accreditation. Perhaps most impactful, however, is the fact that over 3000 SMEs will have direct support in adopting SaaS cloud-based platforms to improve operations.

Cloud computing is seen as an integral cog in Singapore’s Intelligent Nation plan, and the IDA has already launched a Cloud Service Provider Registry to help enterprises better understand what different providers can offer. The expected result of this incentive is that SMEs will have access to resources previously reserved for larger enterprises with bigger IT budgets. This leveling of the playing field should prove to be a powerful competitive differentiator, particularly for the combative recruitment sector.

If this wasn’t enough, Singapore-based businesses of all sizes can also benefit from government lead grants such as the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC). The PIC grant gives allowances of up to $400,000 (SGD) for “innovation expenses” such as technology adoption. This particular scheme was originally set to conclude in 2015 but has recently been extended to continue through to 2018, showing Singapore’s commitment to providing real opportunities for local businesses.

For recruitment companies, this represents a unique opportunity to invest in the very best technologies with very little risk and potentially significant returns. Recruitment agencies using Bullhorn CRM, for example, have been able to make up to 40% more placements, an incredible return on their technological investment. Now with multiple government-led incentives to subsidise the costs involved, there is simply no excuse for recruitment SMEs to procrastinate and continue to use outdated technologies any longer.

Kevin Lam
Regional Sales Director, Asia
Bullhorn APAC

- See more at: http://www.bullhorn.com/au/blog/2015/09/singapore-cloud-technology-intelligent-nation/#sthash.nCmCpMJg.dpuf

Marketing tips for Virtual Reality Start-Ups

Great insights by Martin Shervington

Introduction 

We all know that Virtual Reality (VR) is on the rise. I’ve spent the past few years dipping in and out of the Silicon Valley scene for 6 months at a time, and it is (as my friend and VR storyteller, Sarah Hill says) like drinking from a Virtual Firehose.

The challenge is that until people have experienced VR, they are somewhat like the Square in ‘Flatland’, unable to see the next dimension until the Sphere appears.

(Watch it. I loved the book from Reverend Abbott that it is based one)

As such, if you are working with a VR start-up, or selling into that space, I think it’s worth looking at a few shared principles.

Operating Principles:

1. VR is the next platform – Mark Zuckerberg

Knowing this, it changes your view of what is being built, and it worth talking in terms of this not in terms of games, apps, headsets, processors and so on.

This is the future, and integral to Zuck’s plan for Facebook.

2. It is hard to sell 3D in a 2D world.(credit to The Next Web for that phrase)

You have to give people the experience of VR directly.
There is no other way to ‘bring people into’ that dimension.

As such, always be seeking to give people a positive experience. It is the only way for people to understand.

3. The battle is against 2 dimensions. 

You are seeking to take attention from existing platforms.
This is going to be interesting. Why? Well you simply cannot be in VR and be in this world. Unless businesses adapt and enter the VR space, they are likely to be left behind in time.

4. The battle is not against each other. 

I mean all you VR start-ups and anyone looking at supporting the industry.
There is enough room for everyone.
Ask yourself: How can you ally with your virtual neighbors?

5. Engage the senses

The more senses you engage, the more real it will feel.
Obvious, yet I would suggest you need to break down each sense and rate the level of immersion on a scale of 1 -5.
This way you don’t kid yourself when your story is a 5, but the sound is 1.
We can see this issue with underwhelming experiences of 360 footage. Some tips on filming here.

You need everything to be activated for it to be believable.
John Gower from Dialectinc.com says that ‘belief is the new sense’.
It is when there is doubt created (e.g. through poor sound) that a person stops ‘suspending disbelief’.

6. Novelty, surprise, and shock the senses.

This is the opportunity in VR – to have someone engaged, and then to create a new experience. Watch to the end of ‘Unicorn Island’ by Jaunt to see what I mean. I laughed out loud as ‘something happened’. You’ll see.

7. Create features in 3D to be shared in 2D

I loved Vtime’s selfie feature which allows you to take a snap and when back in ‘this world’, and share what you were up to on Social Media.
This helps pique interest in the mind’s of the curious yet initiated.

8. Culture is something you allow to form, it is not given

VR is new territory, and it is going to be very Social.
Whatever you condone becomes part of the fabric of the experience, and as with all Social experiences the ‘people will make the place’.

9. The rules have changed

You don’t have to follow the old approaches, you have to experiment.
In AltSpaceVR one time I manage to weird out my fellow explorers when I articulated how I should not have assumed a person with a pink avatar was a girl. Why? It is an old paradigm, but one that is deep in our culture.

10. Mindshare

Right now you have to be generous in sharing what you know, and for an older generation this may not ‘feel right’. It is moving quickly. 
Blog, create videos, run courses, educate people. The whole industry wins this way.

11. Think ecosystem

Understand it is an eco-system of businesses, working in the same space.
You really want to be networking with the right people to bundle packages or products, run events etc.
We can see this happening at Upload VR, with Robert Scoble leading the way.

I know this is already happening in many locations (including the UK), but having chatted with some VR start-up members there is still a feeling of competition – as such I am encouraging an alternative view, especially as…

12. Nvdia are creating the shovels

Look at how you can best help them sell more. Simple.

13. Plantronics are making a consumer play

Sound is going to be one of main ways to either increase immersion/engagement, or not.
And as 360 headsets make it onto the market, expect Platronics to be making a big play.
After all, the last time there was a giant leap for man (on the moon), he reported back on one of their headsets.
I learned this from one of their crew, Niven Miraj (based in South Africa) over breakfast whilst attending a conference last week.

14. Oculus has the shelf (for now)

Until Google brings out a higher end unit, Oculus wins. (keeping this simple, knowing there are other platforms too)

Google will win attention though.
It may only be Cardboard today, but we all can guess that new units will be announced by Google by year end, based on Android.
And that is just the beginning…

15. VR Livestreaming is happening on YouTube now, and will come to Facebook soon enough.
This will massively increase adoption rates.
Using certain cameras (Insta360 being one of them), you can do live 360/VR. But you need to ask ‘why 360?’ not just using a normal 2D approach.

Conclusion:

With the release of the Samsung 360 Gear today, we will see more people start to play with VR – but it is still very early days.

As such, we are planning to set up a community of VR evangelists, called The Metaverse, where they can meet and discuss.
Would you like to be a part of it?

Please apply here.
We are seeking a small number of sponsors (Level 1: $1000 a month, Level 2: $2500, Level 3: $5000) – all of which will gain a big boost in this space.
What will you offer?
Sponsors: will give members early access, discount vouchers, special events etc.
Members: will help spread the word

…and together we can take people into the next dimension.

A version of this post originally appeared on the Plus Your Business Blog

*********************************************************

Martin is a keynote speaker, author (business, personal development), marketing consultant and Official Google Small Business Advisor
Founder and community manager of 'Plus Your Business' he spends much of his time supporting businesses make the most of Social, Search and Spend, including Google+, Adwords and Reviews.

"When it comes to social media, Martin Shervington is one of the most clever and hard working people you'll find. He'll help you take your game to the next level."

GUY KAWASAKI

 "Reviews are the lifeblood of most local companies, and Martin and his team provide the wisdom and guidance you need to master this business imperative."

JAY BAER  - Best selling author of "Youtility"

"@MartinSherv...can help YOU grow your business. Smart guy. :)"

CHRIS BROGAN - New York Times best selling author

Written by

Martin ShervingtonSpeaker, Coach, Consultant

21 top Email Marketers pay tribute to Ray Tomlinson

Article by Liam Austin 

Danny Iny, John McIntyre, Rob Walling and other top email marketers talk on the impact Jay's invention has had on their life

Ray Tomlinson, best known for inventing email and the best direct marketing channel the world has ever seen, has died at the age of 74. When sending the first ever email message, Tomlinson gave birth to a communication system that has transformed billions of people's lives, created professions employing millions, and single handedly built million dollar companies.

An online conference dedicated to email, the Email Success Summit, kicks off next week bringing together entrepreneurs who make a living through email marketing. Over 10,000 entrepreneurs are registered to attend the free event which begins on Monday March 14. In memory of Jay Tomlinson, the speakers pay tribute to the person whom they owe so much.

"Everyday I use email to communicate with staff, communicate with my prospects and customers, and promote my business. Over 90% of our customers' first communication with us occured via email. Whether it was Ray Tomlinson's intention, his invention has allowed me to build a thriving business through what I regard as the best direct response mechanism ever."
- Liam Austin, Email Success Summit

"My life and work quite simply wouldn't be possible without email; it's the way that I connect and communicate with my whole audience, and the vehicle for the impact that I have the privilege of making. Ray Tomlinson's invention made this all possible, and I'm grateful. May he rest in peace." 
- Danny Iny, Mirasee

"For something that was meant to solve such a simple problem has opened the doors to so much possibility and prosperity on personal and professional levels. I'm not sure that was Ray's intention, but he can sure be proud for the positive change that email has delivered. Email is, and will always be, the first social network and primary tool for building relationships. After the next dozen social platforms and apps come and go, email will still be a trusted vehicle for connecting people."
- Erik Harbison, AWeber Email Marketing

"Email is one of a precious few technologies that have withstood the test of time and not gone the way of the telegraph or 8-track. Email is as ubiquitous as it's ever been, and after more than 40 years shows no signs of slowing down. Inventing email was one small step for Ray Tomlinson, one giant leap for interpersonal communication."
- Rob Walling, Drip 

""I sent a number of test messages to myself from one machine to the other," Tomlinson recalls now. "The test messages were entirely forgettable..." That's Ray Tomlinson speaking. Who is Ray? He's the guy who sent the first email. Like, ever. Why did he have that privilege? Because he invented the damn thing. I am saddened to hear of his passing. I feel a small connection to Ray for several reasons. First, Ray was deciding to put the "@" in email addresses while I was in diapers. (As in 1971, when I was born and actually in diapers.) Second, we walked the same hallowed halls at MIT... back in the day when Boston posed a real threat to Silicon Valley and anything interesting in networking was coming from within Route 128. And finally, I owe my life's work (online marketing) in no small part to him. I'm not sure he knew he was creating the world's greatest direct marketing channel ever, but he was and he did. Think of all the businesses built on email. All the livelihoods. All the transactions. All the love letters and break-up protests and inadvertent CCs. And yes even the dumb-ass movie "You've Got Mail". All made possible by one man. Thanks Ray."
- Drew Sanocki, Empire Growth Group

"Email has allowed me to build a business where I can live anywhere I want and travel the world. Thank you for giving us an easy, fast way to keep in touch, build relationships, and even though it might not have been what you intended, sell lots of products."
- John McIntyre, ReEngager eCommerce Email Marketing

"Growing up I was extremely shy and introverted. I moved cities constantly which meant making new friends every year if I didn't want to be the kid sitting alone every day during lunch and recess. It would take me months after every move to finally make a friend or two, then finally as soon as I became close with one or two people I'd move. The process would start over in the next town - lunches alone, make a friend or two - move away. Rinse. Repeat. Heartbreaking as a kid. I'll never forget the first day I got an email address (@AOL.com) and I was instantly reconnected with friends both near and far. My lonely corner of the playground became an opportunity to reconnect with those that I had unwillingly left behind by taking a trip to the school library. The social interaction via email gave me confidence and helped me come out of my shell. Suddenly, making friends wasn't so difficult. I never had to worry about losing contact again. Email has allowed me to keep in touch with so many loved ones over the years and because of it I'm able to feel connected to the people I care for no matter where I go. Ray, the work you've done has changed the lives of so many, whether it be creating an entire industries worth of jobs or allowing the estranged to reconnect the world would be a very different place without the advent of email. Thank you."
- Brendan Dubbels, ONTRAPORT

"Ray Tomlinson’s "@" symbol changed the world of marketing. Email has been a life changer for billions of people. The impact email has had on our environment is enormous. Rest in peace, Mr. Tomlinson."
- Michael Leander, Markedu

"Email was the original social media for me, and a great way of staying in touch with people I'd met travelling in the 90's. We set up joke lists and passed whatever we felt would entertain the group. A perfect way to remain connected."
- Martin Shervington, Plus Your Life and Business

"From a personal perspective, as an introverted person with social anxiety, email gives me the ability to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues in a way that is much more comfortable for me than being face to face or picking up the phone. From a business perspective, email gives me the ability to sell my writing services to clients with my writing. I couldn't imagine a world without email as it has allowed me to connect with so many people and create a business that I wouldn't have had otherwise. And I have Ray to thank for that! I am sorry for your family's loss."
- Kristi Hines, Freelance Writing Services

"I cannot even fathom life before email. I literally would not have my business if it weren't for email. Ray - thank you for your creation. You made an impact on billions of people through this invention and improved lives across the world for the better because of it. Who would have thought?"
- Justin McGill, LeadFuze

"Email has been the basis of my career and kept a roof over my head for the past 12 years. Few inventions really change the world but I'm quite certain email has been one of them. It has brought the people of the world immeasurably closer. Thank you Ray."
- Rob Tyson, The Tyson Report

"I've been separated from my family in Russia for almost 20 years now. Staying in touch has definitely been a challenge - especially in those early years, when many means of communication weren't freely open to the Russians, for both political and economic reasons. Amazingly, email turned out to be sometimes the only way I could reach my family, and for that, I am ever so grateful."
- Ana Hoffman, Traffic Generation Cafe

"In my early twenties, I traveled the world. I met countless wonderful people. Email was only starting to become popular. Not everyone had email addresses but a few did. For those that did, I am grateful that we have been able to stay in touch. In fact, some of these people have become lifelong friends, instead of distant memories, thanks to email. Few people have had a more profound impact on our ability as humans to close gaps and make the world a smaller, flatter and more open place. Most people go through life contributing very little. Some people spend their lives only taking. But some people give something so profound it changes the world forever, in positive ways that can never be measured. Thank you Ray Tomlinson for making the world a vastly better (and smaller) place, where ideas can be shared, almost at the speed of light, across continents, cultures and nationalities, where humans that never would have met can now form lasting and thoughtful relationships, even if they never meet in person. Today, I work from Australia, in partnerships with people in Uganda, Florida, Italy and the Philippines. Thank you Ray Tomlinson."
- James Tuckerman, Anthill Magazine, Not-So-Freaky University

"I got my first email address in fourth grade. We were on a 56k modem and I would email back and forth with my friends after school. Email has been an integral part of my life ever since then. Of course now I'm working for an email company, email has not only made it possible for our business to exist, but it has given us the platform to be able to impact millions of people's productivity around the globe. We are truly grateful to Ray for building such a thoughtful, stable protocol that has fundamentally changed the way that the world communicates."
- Chris Cichon, Boomerang

"To put simply, email has changed the way the world communicates, especially loved ones across the world."
- Casey Armstrong, Full Stack Marketer

"When I started creating an online business, I had no idea what to do. Fast forward just a few short years and I would’ve never realized that email was the key to it all. Although I didn’t know Ray Tomlinson personally, the things his invention has allowed are the foundation for modern day human communication. His loss is significant but his inventions will live on forever."
- Jeremy Montoya, Jeremy Montoya Inc

"Email is one of those staples of business that continues to surprise us. In any given period, there is speculation that the next “fad” is going to be the “end of email”, but yet it keeps on performing to a level that is unrivalled by any other communications channel. Thank you, Ray - you made a difference."
- Mark Asquith, Excellence Expected

"Imagine, less than 20 years ago, if I wanted to have access to my perfect audience and spread my message, it would cost so much money that I'd get stopped in my tracks. Email has allowed us to have a true relationship with those in who we serve in a 1-to-many way, that's nearly free. It's allowing me to fulfill my destiny and vision - that's amazing. Ray, you've changed the ability for people to communicate, to allow for more effectiveness and the ability for people to connect on a daily basis like never before. Simply put, you've changed how humans interact, how they discover and connect. The legacy you've left, won't be forgotten."
- Scott Oldford, INFINITUS

"The impact that the modern email has done for my business is truly remarkable. It has allowed me to reach and help people all over the world. If we didn't have email, my business and probably many others would not be in the situation we are in now. I am so grateful for this beautiful gift that Ray has given us all with his invention of the electronic mail."
- Jason Swenk, Jason Swenk LLC

"There are a handful of things that have an immense impact on my daily life, email is most certainly one of them. Far more significant than any change that any politician has ever made during my lifetime, more important than any single app that I have ever used, and longer lasting than any social media platform. Email was the first reason I ever used the internet, it has been the foundation the vast majority of money I have made during my lifetime and it connects families, friends and colleagues around the world. Thank you Ray. You may be gone, but your legacy will continue to help the lives of billions of people for a very long time to come."
- Leon Jay, FusionHQ

About Liam Austin:- Liam is a strategic partnerships expert and the founder of Small Today, an online community of 100,000+ small business owners.